Virginia “Ginny” Burton used her social networks to share her incredible before and after. Who went from drug hell to being a political science graduate.
Today she is a professional and hopes her story will serve as an inspiration for those who struggle with addiction and want to overcome.
From drug hell to a degree in political science
Virginia “Ginny” Burton came to believe it was only a matter of time before someone found her lifeless in some park with a needle in her arm or a bullet in her head.
“I didn’t care if I was killed, if I went to jail or decided to commit suicide. Any of those options was a way out for me, I couldn’t stop on my own,” she thought when she was on the streets.
However, this 48-year-old American woman managed to rebuild her life. Through her social networks, she shared her incredible before and after, going viral for sharing details about her story of overcoming.
Burton was born in Tacoma, a city located in the state of Washington.
According to what she told, she had a very difficult childhood. His mother, who was mentally ill, was a drug dealer. His father was in jail for a series of armed robberies, ABC reported.
At 12 he was using methamphetamine and cocaine.
At 14 he was introduced to crack. She attempted suicide after being raped by a man who had bought drugs from her mother.
At 23, she had given birth to two children. According to police reports, she was in an abusive relationship and had become addicted to heroin.
She went so far as to steal from Mexican drug dealers and stole cars to get narcotics, and eventually authorities took custody of her children.
Her actions landed her in jail three times. There, she had the time to think about whether she wanted to change her life; however, she did not have the tools to make it happen. As soon as she got out of prison, she would return to the same people and the same lifestyle.
In December 2012, the date she was last arrested, something happened that ended up “saving her life.” She had crashed a stolen truck into a tree during a police chase and was subsequently arrested.
As she sat in the back of the authorities’ car, she began to feel happy and relieved. “I knew I was okay. I knew when he put the handcuffs on me and put me in his car, I knew my life was going to change and it was then, at that moment, that I made the decision to turn it around no matter what it took,” she explained.
After this arrest, Ginny asked to be included in the program to treat her drug addiction. Since then, the woman has never looked back.
After doing social service for several years, she began taking college classes. She said her time at South Seattle College in Washington made her realize how much of her life she had wasted. That’s how she ended up discovering she had a knack for studying. “I was good at learning,” she says.
She studied political science and, for her efforts, was named a 2020 Truman Scholar for Washington. She was also part of the university’s academic team.
After graduating, she posted on her Facebook account two impressive photographs showing her radical change over the years.
Today, Ginny, who has been drug-free for 8 years and 5 months, hopes her story will serve as an inspiration to those struggling with addiction.
